working for money
Most students work at some point during their time at university or college.
Some of them even work at their studies – but never mind that, Push is talking about cash at the mo.
For some students, a part-time job down the supermarket is the only way they can afford to do any travelling over the summer. For others, pulling pints in the union is the only way they can buy themselves a drink later. For all too many, earning cash isn't a nice little extra to can spend on treats, it’s the only way they can keep their finances from going into free-fall.
Approximately 40% of students do some kind of part-time work to supplement their income during term-time - and the number is growing. Then there are the jobs over summer vacations. All in all, 90% of students are thought to take paid work at some point.
Some of them even work at their studies – but never mind that, Push is talking about cash at the mo.
For some students, a part-time job down the supermarket is the only way they can afford to do any travelling over the summer. For others, pulling pints in the union is the only way they can buy themselves a drink later. For all too many, earning cash isn't a nice little extra to can spend on treats, it’s the only way they can keep their finances from going into free-fall.
Approximately 40% of students do some kind of part-time work to supplement their income during term-time - and the number is growing. Then there are the jobs over summer vacations. All in all, 90% of students are thought to take paid work at some point.
the pros vs the cons
|
THE PROS
Working for money has its advantages. For starters, there’s the money. Don’t underestimate the importance of that. Some jobs – however dull – offer a break from academic work. Sometimes the more mindless they are, the better. And many have great little perks such as staff discounts (if you work in a shop) or free food and drink (if you work in catering). There’s also the fact that, quite apart from making money, most jobs – because they take up so much of your time – stop you doing anything that might involve spending money. If you work behind a bar, for instance, you can’t spend your evenings on the other side of it handing over cash. What’s more, you don’t lose out entirely when it comes to socialising with the people who do spend their time and money in there. There’s also the work experience. Most part-time or temporary student jobs may not quite be rungs on the career ladder, but there's the opportunity to work in a variety of different environments, to meet new people and to learn new skills. It all adds horsepower to your CV and shows you're not a lazy sod to future employers - be it a post at some slick corporate outfit a la Canary Wharf or being the human tea trolley, temping in the holidays. Even if you’re just pulling pints at your local bar or scanning barcodes at the supermarket, every penny counts. It proves you can be relied on to show your face regularly and not hurl abuse at your boss or the customers. Both valuable assets in an employee and rarer than you might imagine. As more graduates turn out with work experience, employers get more choosy about what they expect from the top recruits. Whatever you can do to make yourself stand out as jobworthy is worthwhile. Employers want all the buzzwords and phrases – highly developed, communication and interpersonal skills, teamwork, ability to meet deadlines, IT literacy, numeracy, the ability to stay calm in a crisis, initiative, managerial potential, quick and reasoned decision-making and a demonstrable analytical approach, able to bullshit. Actually, no need to say the last one, you'll have quite possibly had the opportunity to do so in spouting some of the above keywords. |
THE CONS
Ideally, of course, students would spend every waking moment with their minds bent towards the high ideas of their studies. But, while it’s not true that if you’ve got a job you can’t possibly get a good degree, it is important to maintain your perspective. You’re doing the job to support your studies and your studies should come first. But if your boss is more pushy than your tutor – and, since s/he is paying you, s/he probably will be – when it comes to a choice, it’s often your studies that are left behind while you go out to work. Universities usually recommend that students do no more than 15 hours work a week. Some institutions, particularly Scottish universities, say ten hours should be the maximum. And Oxbridge strongly advises - read tries to ban - its students from having a part time job. In reality, the average working student puts in 14 hours a week during term-time – which means some are doing far fewer hours, but some are doing far more. And this worker-ant lifestyle isn’t doing their degrees any favours. An NUS Students at work survey revealed that 59% of students who worked during term-time felt it affected their studies, with 38% missing lectures and 21% failing to hand in coursework. Government research has also found that 58% of students who worked regularly got 2:1s or first class degrees, compared with 71% of jobless students. The difference was even greater among students who’d got top A level grades. It’s sometimes hard to find a job that offers the right number of hours at the right times and which has the flexibility to let you rearrange your hours once in a while if you have a study commitment. Signing up with an agency that will give you work, when you’ve got time for it, without strings or fixed hours attached can be a good move - providing you can survive without a fixed wage each week. It’s not just classwork that’s important. Students have to make time for individual study – in fact, quite a bit of it. If it means missing an essay deadline or skipping a lecture or seminar, you shouldn’t be going to work. To put in the hours both studying and working for money, something’s got to give. Just make sure it’s the right thing. There’s no point finishing your degree without debt if you don’t pass. But then again, stressing about not being able to pay next month’s rent isn’t exactly conducive to good study, so there’s a whole lot of swings and roundabouts to try and contend with here. Without getting dizzy, seeing stars and collapsing in a heap. |
It’s also worth remembering that not all courses are equal. Typically, arts courses have a low amount of teaching time, although there’s likely to be a whole load of reading and self-study to compensate. Science courses and some vocational courses will probably require your presence in a lecture theatre or lab far more often, reducing how flexible you can be in terms of work time. And some courses do just have a heavy workload, full-stop – architecture is notoriously time consuming, and medical and dentistry students usually have teaching or placements when most students have holidays. Chances are, they’ll end up earning enough to make it all seem more than worth it, but don’t factor in too much part-time earning power in the meantime.
The solution for some people (particularly mature students) is to work full-time and study on a part-time basis. However, unless you’ve got a good job that you want to hang on to and you’re in no hurry to get qualified, you might find yourself higher on the stress scale and not a whole lot better off, because you aren’t eligible for the same support.
The solution for some people (particularly mature students) is to work full-time and study on a part-time basis. However, unless you’ve got a good job that you want to hang on to and you’re in no hurry to get qualified, you might find yourself higher on the stress scale and not a whole lot better off, because you aren’t eligible for the same support.
WORKING WHEN STUDYING AT OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE
At Oxford and Cambridge, the terms are shorter than usual – just eight weeks – and the level of academic intensity during that time is turned up a notch. They – and other universities with shorter terms – are a bit firmer about what students should and shouldn’t do to make ends meet.
Term-time jobs get a big frown and, although you might get away with it if you keep things hush hush, if there’s any hint of conflict with your studies it’ll be a them-or-us situation. Oxford’s Student Union reckons one in five students are holding down term-time jobs on the sly.
You’d have thought that longer vacations mean you could just make up the money doing full-time temp work. Afraid not. At Oxbridge, you tend to get almost as much work set between terms as during them – and if you don’t, then you’ll probably want to get ahead on next term’s reading list while there’s time.
Finding the time for more than a couple of hours paid work a week isn’t easy and anyway it’s hard to find jobs with such a minimal time commitment. But, on the up-side, Oxbridge students tend to have fewer financial problems – partly because nearly 50% went to private schools and partly because there’s more student support funding floating around than in most other universities.
Term-time jobs get a big frown and, although you might get away with it if you keep things hush hush, if there’s any hint of conflict with your studies it’ll be a them-or-us situation. Oxford’s Student Union reckons one in five students are holding down term-time jobs on the sly.
You’d have thought that longer vacations mean you could just make up the money doing full-time temp work. Afraid not. At Oxbridge, you tend to get almost as much work set between terms as during them – and if you don’t, then you’ll probably want to get ahead on next term’s reading list while there’s time.
Finding the time for more than a couple of hours paid work a week isn’t easy and anyway it’s hard to find jobs with such a minimal time commitment. But, on the up-side, Oxbridge students tend to have fewer financial problems – partly because nearly 50% went to private schools and partly because there’s more student support funding floating around than in most other universities.
finding a job
Clearly not every job is suitable for students. After all, most involve going to work during the day.
There are some obvious work opps however: casual work in bars, restaurants and hotels (and catering in general), shops and supermarkets. Others that get a look in include childminding and care work, cleaning, warehouse jobs, call centres, market research and temporary office work.
But depending on what you’re willing and able to do, there’s really no such thing as a typical job.
One thing most students forget to do is look right on their doorstep: start with your university. More specifically: the outreach and widening participation department. You can bet your bottom dollar that your where you've chosen to study has an office crammed full of passionate people who are dedicated to advertising your university to school and college students (and adults). They run workshops for these people on university life, how to apply to courses, taster days, open days, summer schools and guided tours. With all this talk of student loans, why not get some money back from your uni (and often not a bad hourly salary) before you've even graduated and started repaying your student loan?
It's often really fun, you meet new faces at your uni and your employer is completely understand of you balancing the work with your studies...since they know you're a student there. Simply go up to the 'WP' (Widening Participation) or Outreach office, introduce yourself, make a good impression, and they might be able to offer you regular work.
It beats working in the bar, is often really flexible and is a great way to develop your wider employability skills for the future (communication, teamwork, initiative)...since you'll most likely be running workshops or assisting on tours, in the uni or even perhaps in schools. It may also lead to a great job straight 'out' of university too as those teams will often look to graduates of that university first for full-time jobs - since you have lived the experience and will be the best person to highlight the benefits of that university and what daily life is like as a student there.
If you fancy something a bit more unusual, how about life modelling for artists, being a teaching assistant, a psychologist’s guinea pig, DJing, driving the students union nightbus, nightclub bouncing or exotic dancing (best to keep quiet about that in front of dad though).
It’s worth considering jobs that don’t require you to do much more than sit there, occasionally move about a bit and then sit there again – night security, for instance, or baby-sitting (once the kid’s in bed). You can use the time for study – or at least reading – and, bonus, you get paid for it.
The student work site E4S allows users to search for part-time and holiday work (as well as gap year and graduate jobs) by area.
There are some obvious work opps however: casual work in bars, restaurants and hotels (and catering in general), shops and supermarkets. Others that get a look in include childminding and care work, cleaning, warehouse jobs, call centres, market research and temporary office work.
But depending on what you’re willing and able to do, there’s really no such thing as a typical job.
One thing most students forget to do is look right on their doorstep: start with your university. More specifically: the outreach and widening participation department. You can bet your bottom dollar that your where you've chosen to study has an office crammed full of passionate people who are dedicated to advertising your university to school and college students (and adults). They run workshops for these people on university life, how to apply to courses, taster days, open days, summer schools and guided tours. With all this talk of student loans, why not get some money back from your uni (and often not a bad hourly salary) before you've even graduated and started repaying your student loan?
It's often really fun, you meet new faces at your uni and your employer is completely understand of you balancing the work with your studies...since they know you're a student there. Simply go up to the 'WP' (Widening Participation) or Outreach office, introduce yourself, make a good impression, and they might be able to offer you regular work.
It beats working in the bar, is often really flexible and is a great way to develop your wider employability skills for the future (communication, teamwork, initiative)...since you'll most likely be running workshops or assisting on tours, in the uni or even perhaps in schools. It may also lead to a great job straight 'out' of university too as those teams will often look to graduates of that university first for full-time jobs - since you have lived the experience and will be the best person to highlight the benefits of that university and what daily life is like as a student there.
If you fancy something a bit more unusual, how about life modelling for artists, being a teaching assistant, a psychologist’s guinea pig, DJing, driving the students union nightbus, nightclub bouncing or exotic dancing (best to keep quiet about that in front of dad though).
It’s worth considering jobs that don’t require you to do much more than sit there, occasionally move about a bit and then sit there again – night security, for instance, or baby-sitting (once the kid’s in bed). You can use the time for study – or at least reading – and, bonus, you get paid for it.
The student work site E4S allows users to search for part-time and holiday work (as well as gap year and graduate jobs) by area.
OTHER PLACES TO LOOK
Most student jobshops worth their salt come up with something within a few weeks - if there’s anything to come up with.
But what do you do if they prove to be more of an unsalted peanut than salt and malt Mccoys crinckle cut? - Or there is no jobshop? Not even a vacancies noticeboard?
The local job centre may be able to help, but their main priority will be getting jobs for the unemployed, not (as they may see it) feathering the nest of students who’re already sitting on a cosy little egg of a future.
Local newspapers, employment agencies and even postcards in newsagents’ windows may be a better bet. Some temping agencies specialise in finding short-term assignments for young people – the work tends to be menial, but if it’s really crap you can turn it down.
There’s also the benefit of not being committed to work when you’ve got a few all-nighters to pull down the library. Sign up with more than one if the work is a bit thin on the ground.
Also, try the university’s own bulletin – not the student newspaper, but whatever newsletter the authorities produce for staff (there probably is one, even if most students don’t know about it). Or why not just barge into the uni’s conference office and see what they’ve got?
Don’t be afraid to go into a pub, a restaurant or a shop on spec and ask. What’s the worst they can say? Remember to have your CV on hand and try something politer than, ‘Oi, gi's a job’.
There’s no need to turn up in a suit, but it doesn’t hurt to look smart and run a comb through your hair - particularly if you’re going to be working with members of the public. After all, would you want to buy your lunch from someone with a barnet that gives Amy Winehouse's matted beehive a run for its money?
Even if the jobshop can’t find you anything, they should be able to give you advice. And if there’s no jobshop, the careers office might be turned on to a few ideas and opportunities. Websites E4S and Gumtree are also useful.
Ultimately, if the regular avenues turn into dead-ends, it’s important to try the alleys that other people haven’t. Chances are there’s a job going somewhere that someone’s desperate to fill, it’s just that they’re not trying the right channels. If you can tune in to same station, you may find you’re the only person chasing the job.
Lateral thinking is called for. So if, for instance, it’s coming up to Easter, think about who does a lot of business then. A quick phone call to Thornton’s and you may find yourself helping them meet the extra demand (not to mention acquiring a revulsion to chocolate).
Or, since the horse-racing and big sporting seasons are just getting under way around then, maybe the bookies will need someone numerate.
You can even advertise your own services – childminding, house cleaning, dog walking, gardening, DIY, GCSE tutoring, underpants scouring, etc. That’s what the windows of newsagents and corner shops are for – those cards usually cost no more than a pound a week and in some supermarkets they’re free.
And how about teaming up with a friend or two and offering yourselves as a multi-skilled ‘student workforce’ (you could even start your own jobshop if there isn’t one). Back to cards in the shop windows, but this time, you’re sharing the cost.
If you’re offering services, there's a couple of things to bear in mind. You may find you need to provide references to prove you can do what you’re advertising and that you’re reliable. It’s also best if you can find someone to check out the people you’re working for.
With certain jobs, such as childminding, there may be legal dimensions that you’re not aware of. A bit of babysitting’s not a problem, but pretending to offer a full-scale crèche could land you in more than a pile of smelly nappies.
Get advice from the jobshops, careers service or the local Citizen’s Advice Bureau if you’re worried.
But what do you do if they prove to be more of an unsalted peanut than salt and malt Mccoys crinckle cut? - Or there is no jobshop? Not even a vacancies noticeboard?
The local job centre may be able to help, but their main priority will be getting jobs for the unemployed, not (as they may see it) feathering the nest of students who’re already sitting on a cosy little egg of a future.
Local newspapers, employment agencies and even postcards in newsagents’ windows may be a better bet. Some temping agencies specialise in finding short-term assignments for young people – the work tends to be menial, but if it’s really crap you can turn it down.
There’s also the benefit of not being committed to work when you’ve got a few all-nighters to pull down the library. Sign up with more than one if the work is a bit thin on the ground.
Also, try the university’s own bulletin – not the student newspaper, but whatever newsletter the authorities produce for staff (there probably is one, even if most students don’t know about it). Or why not just barge into the uni’s conference office and see what they’ve got?
Don’t be afraid to go into a pub, a restaurant or a shop on spec and ask. What’s the worst they can say? Remember to have your CV on hand and try something politer than, ‘Oi, gi's a job’.
There’s no need to turn up in a suit, but it doesn’t hurt to look smart and run a comb through your hair - particularly if you’re going to be working with members of the public. After all, would you want to buy your lunch from someone with a barnet that gives Amy Winehouse's matted beehive a run for its money?
Even if the jobshop can’t find you anything, they should be able to give you advice. And if there’s no jobshop, the careers office might be turned on to a few ideas and opportunities. Websites E4S and Gumtree are also useful.
Ultimately, if the regular avenues turn into dead-ends, it’s important to try the alleys that other people haven’t. Chances are there’s a job going somewhere that someone’s desperate to fill, it’s just that they’re not trying the right channels. If you can tune in to same station, you may find you’re the only person chasing the job.
Lateral thinking is called for. So if, for instance, it’s coming up to Easter, think about who does a lot of business then. A quick phone call to Thornton’s and you may find yourself helping them meet the extra demand (not to mention acquiring a revulsion to chocolate).
Or, since the horse-racing and big sporting seasons are just getting under way around then, maybe the bookies will need someone numerate.
You can even advertise your own services – childminding, house cleaning, dog walking, gardening, DIY, GCSE tutoring, underpants scouring, etc. That’s what the windows of newsagents and corner shops are for – those cards usually cost no more than a pound a week and in some supermarkets they’re free.
And how about teaming up with a friend or two and offering yourselves as a multi-skilled ‘student workforce’ (you could even start your own jobshop if there isn’t one). Back to cards in the shop windows, but this time, you’re sharing the cost.
If you’re offering services, there's a couple of things to bear in mind. You may find you need to provide references to prove you can do what you’re advertising and that you’re reliable. It’s also best if you can find someone to check out the people you’re working for.
With certain jobs, such as childminding, there may be legal dimensions that you’re not aware of. A bit of babysitting’s not a problem, but pretending to offer a full-scale crèche could land you in more than a pile of smelly nappies.
Get advice from the jobshops, careers service or the local Citizen’s Advice Bureau if you’re worried.
JOBSHOPS AND JOB OPPS
Although they’d rather their students didn’t have to work for money, most universities came to terms with the reality of the situation a while ago.
So rather than leave students tramping around various establishments, CV in one hand and not a clue in the other, most universities now have a jobshop based on campus – basically a job agency that finds employment for students and finds students for employers.
This is different from the university careers office, which trys to find jobs for students once they’ve graduated (although the two are often combined into a single service). Jobshops find work during the vacations and, sometimes, part-time jobs during term.
And jobshops do more than your bog standard temp agency – apart from anything else, they don’t usually take a slice off your wage packet (or if they do, it’s a smaller one than usual).
The difference for employers is that they specialise in students, which, to many of them, is a good thing. Students tend to be intelligent, keen, polite and, on average, no less reliable than anyone else. And most importantly students are cheap.
The difference for students is that jobshops specialise in jobs for students. The vacancies they’ve got tend to be the ones that have some flexibility over hours, with a boss who understands some of the commitments students have to juggle.
Jobshops are in a good position to do a nice bit of matching. But their responsibilities usually go further - often they’ll exercise a cut-off point on wages.
For most people the minimum wage is £7.50 an hour, but for 18 to 21 year-olds it’s only £5.60 an hour. Many jobshops impose their own minimum – at least the legal minimum wage and sometimes higher – and they’ll tell employers looking for slave labour to shove it.
Jobshops will sometimes also lay down the law on other things - such as better-than-minimum working conditions, holiday pay and so on. (Even part-time workers are entitled to paid leave.) How successful they are depends on how needy the local job market is.
One of the biggest local employers of students tends to be the university itself, which smacks just a tad of hypocrisy – but who’s complaining?
Universities often need people to work in bars, shops, cafés and cafeterias, or cleaning rooms, doing admin work, looking after conference guests, serving drinks at functions, looking after new and prospective students, even phoning former students and asking them to donate generously to the vice-chancellor’s retirement fund. All ideal work for students.
There are often still more jobs going at the SU, which usually manages most of the bars, shops, nightclubs and other non-academic services for students within the university. As often as not, it’s the SU that runs the jobshop and it employs students work there.
Some universities are in areas so devoid of job opportunities that the jobshop doesn’t even bother to try and find jobs for students off campus, and lists only vacancies on offer from the uni itself or the students’ union.
Every jobshop operates slightly differently and some might just as well try to find a soft drink in a bar in Dublin as find a job. Either they’re not very good at it or there just aren’t the openings out there.
Flexible evening and weekend work is easier to come by in a large city than in a small town and it’s often possible to get longer shifts during holidays or even go full-time if you’re jammy.
Obviously, if it’s work back at you’re home town you're looking for, your university jobshop will be less use than a fly swat in a plaque of locusts. So, a few weeks before the end of term, get in touch with a few agencies or businesses near your home. That way you avoid the post-term flood of students.
Christmas is an especially good time to find shop work and summer is, of course, tourist season. Lots of big companies have summer vacation schemes, sometimes called internships of usually between four and eight weeks.
So rather than leave students tramping around various establishments, CV in one hand and not a clue in the other, most universities now have a jobshop based on campus – basically a job agency that finds employment for students and finds students for employers.
This is different from the university careers office, which trys to find jobs for students once they’ve graduated (although the two are often combined into a single service). Jobshops find work during the vacations and, sometimes, part-time jobs during term.
And jobshops do more than your bog standard temp agency – apart from anything else, they don’t usually take a slice off your wage packet (or if they do, it’s a smaller one than usual).
The difference for employers is that they specialise in students, which, to many of them, is a good thing. Students tend to be intelligent, keen, polite and, on average, no less reliable than anyone else. And most importantly students are cheap.
The difference for students is that jobshops specialise in jobs for students. The vacancies they’ve got tend to be the ones that have some flexibility over hours, with a boss who understands some of the commitments students have to juggle.
Jobshops are in a good position to do a nice bit of matching. But their responsibilities usually go further - often they’ll exercise a cut-off point on wages.
For most people the minimum wage is £7.50 an hour, but for 18 to 21 year-olds it’s only £5.60 an hour. Many jobshops impose their own minimum – at least the legal minimum wage and sometimes higher – and they’ll tell employers looking for slave labour to shove it.
Jobshops will sometimes also lay down the law on other things - such as better-than-minimum working conditions, holiday pay and so on. (Even part-time workers are entitled to paid leave.) How successful they are depends on how needy the local job market is.
One of the biggest local employers of students tends to be the university itself, which smacks just a tad of hypocrisy – but who’s complaining?
Universities often need people to work in bars, shops, cafés and cafeterias, or cleaning rooms, doing admin work, looking after conference guests, serving drinks at functions, looking after new and prospective students, even phoning former students and asking them to donate generously to the vice-chancellor’s retirement fund. All ideal work for students.
There are often still more jobs going at the SU, which usually manages most of the bars, shops, nightclubs and other non-academic services for students within the university. As often as not, it’s the SU that runs the jobshop and it employs students work there.
Some universities are in areas so devoid of job opportunities that the jobshop doesn’t even bother to try and find jobs for students off campus, and lists only vacancies on offer from the uni itself or the students’ union.
Every jobshop operates slightly differently and some might just as well try to find a soft drink in a bar in Dublin as find a job. Either they’re not very good at it or there just aren’t the openings out there.
Flexible evening and weekend work is easier to come by in a large city than in a small town and it’s often possible to get longer shifts during holidays or even go full-time if you’re jammy.
Obviously, if it’s work back at you’re home town you're looking for, your university jobshop will be less use than a fly swat in a plaque of locusts. So, a few weeks before the end of term, get in touch with a few agencies or businesses near your home. That way you avoid the post-term flood of students.
Christmas is an especially good time to find shop work and summer is, of course, tourist season. Lots of big companies have summer vacation schemes, sometimes called internships of usually between four and eight weeks.
OTHER AVENUES FOR MONEY
It may sound crazy, but it could pay in the long run to consider working for nothing, especially if looking for paid work is proving as fruitless as a hamster's attempt to break free from its running wheel.
Here are some options that might be worth considering:
Here are some options that might be worth considering:
HOW MUCH CAN I EARN?
Obviously it depends what you do. Students usually end up working in shops, pubs, bars and restaurants and receive about £6-£7 an hour.
If they stick to the university’s recommendation of no more than 15 hours a week, that should bring in an extra £90 plus a week, but there may be things like tax and National Insurance (NI) to worry about.
If you did that every week, it'd put about £4,500 into the right side of your budget equation, but the fact is that, one way or another, you’re unlikely to work for more than about seven months. Over the summer you may well not be around, and during May and June you’ll probably have exams to worry about which are definitely more important than paid work.
According to Government research, the average student gets just over £1,800 a year from paid work - not including anything earned in the long summer break. Although, as not all students work, those that do are likely to earn a bit more and balance out those that earn diddly squat. The average among those who do work is £3,250 during the year and £1,300 during the summer hols.
So, assuming you can find work, and assuming that it pays okay, and assuming you can do it enough for hours and weeks to make it worthwhile, then you could hope to earn about three grand a year as a student. But don’t rely on it when it comes to calculating your budget until you know what you’re really likely to receive.
Tips:
Working in a restaurant, you might receive a lower basic wage (remember, it’s illegal for them to offer less than £5.60 an hour), but there will probably be tips on top of that. If you’re taking a job with tips, check out the employer’s policy. Some places will let you keep your own.
At others, they split them equally and, occasionally, you find a tosser boss who pockets the lot. Sometimes, the boss pockets only the tips on credit card slips and you get any cash.
Tips can double your wages but don’t – we repeat, don’t – forget you are supposed to pay tax and NI on them too.
Definitely supposed to, okay? So, Push told you not to just keep shtum. Right? So long as that's clear.
Aiming high:
If you’re a risk-taker, there are opportunities to make a lot more money – but the risk is that you make less, nothing or even lose out.
For instance, there are selling jobs out there that are ‘commission-only’. You get a cut of any sales you make. But the problem is, if you make nothing, you get nothing.
It’s a mug’s game, really, but if you reckon you could sell toilet roll to a constipated deaf man with no arms (or, even tougher, advertising space to small businesses), you might just hit the jackpot and rake in a lot more than most students. Sales jobs that pay a guaranteed basic wage with commission on top are a less risky – and probably better – bet.
Other high-stakes games including starting your own business. There are plenty of eighties throw-back entrepreneurs out there paying their way through university with wheeling and dealing skills.
Among the popular ideas are: running club nights and events, hiring out evening dress to students for balls, launching magazines and selling second-hand designer gear.
As we said, these are the popular ideas – in other words, other people try them regularly and most fail. Make sure there’s a market with a gap in it and minimise your potential to lose big-time. It’s also worth finding out about the official position on rules, regulations and taxes etc, especially if you’re planning something on a grand scale.
Check the following for advice: startbusiness.co.uk, startups.co.uk and businesslink.gov.uk.
If they stick to the university’s recommendation of no more than 15 hours a week, that should bring in an extra £90 plus a week, but there may be things like tax and National Insurance (NI) to worry about.
If you did that every week, it'd put about £4,500 into the right side of your budget equation, but the fact is that, one way or another, you’re unlikely to work for more than about seven months. Over the summer you may well not be around, and during May and June you’ll probably have exams to worry about which are definitely more important than paid work.
According to Government research, the average student gets just over £1,800 a year from paid work - not including anything earned in the long summer break. Although, as not all students work, those that do are likely to earn a bit more and balance out those that earn diddly squat. The average among those who do work is £3,250 during the year and £1,300 during the summer hols.
So, assuming you can find work, and assuming that it pays okay, and assuming you can do it enough for hours and weeks to make it worthwhile, then you could hope to earn about three grand a year as a student. But don’t rely on it when it comes to calculating your budget until you know what you’re really likely to receive.
Tips:
Working in a restaurant, you might receive a lower basic wage (remember, it’s illegal for them to offer less than £5.60 an hour), but there will probably be tips on top of that. If you’re taking a job with tips, check out the employer’s policy. Some places will let you keep your own.
At others, they split them equally and, occasionally, you find a tosser boss who pockets the lot. Sometimes, the boss pockets only the tips on credit card slips and you get any cash.
Tips can double your wages but don’t – we repeat, don’t – forget you are supposed to pay tax and NI on them too.
Definitely supposed to, okay? So, Push told you not to just keep shtum. Right? So long as that's clear.
Aiming high:
If you’re a risk-taker, there are opportunities to make a lot more money – but the risk is that you make less, nothing or even lose out.
For instance, there are selling jobs out there that are ‘commission-only’. You get a cut of any sales you make. But the problem is, if you make nothing, you get nothing.
It’s a mug’s game, really, but if you reckon you could sell toilet roll to a constipated deaf man with no arms (or, even tougher, advertising space to small businesses), you might just hit the jackpot and rake in a lot more than most students. Sales jobs that pay a guaranteed basic wage with commission on top are a less risky – and probably better – bet.
Other high-stakes games including starting your own business. There are plenty of eighties throw-back entrepreneurs out there paying their way through university with wheeling and dealing skills.
Among the popular ideas are: running club nights and events, hiring out evening dress to students for balls, launching magazines and selling second-hand designer gear.
As we said, these are the popular ideas – in other words, other people try them regularly and most fail. Make sure there’s a market with a gap in it and minimise your potential to lose big-time. It’s also worth finding out about the official position on rules, regulations and taxes etc, especially if you’re planning something on a grand scale.
Check the following for advice: startbusiness.co.uk, startups.co.uk and businesslink.gov.uk.
income tax
Taxes are like Alcatraz after lights out. Nobody escapes.
And no matter how many times you flash your NUS card, students are no different. The only change is that although they have to pay income tax, the amount is usually zero. Huh? The difference may be subtle, but paying nothing is not the same as escaping them.
Everyone gets a personal non-taxable allowance - which is the amount you’re allowed to earn before the Government starts taking a cut. Tax years run from April to April (don’t ask why – it’s something to do with medieval sheep markets) and currently the personal tax allowance is £11,850.
So, if in this time you earn or receive income above £11,500, you are supposed to pay income tax – although you only have to pay tax on the amount above the allowance, not on the whole lot. The more you earn the more you pay, but at first it’s only 10%.
Loans and grants don’t count as income. Nor do scholarships or bursaries. It's just what you receive from paid work and there aren’t too many students doing full-time courses who’ll be earning more than the personal allowance in a year.
So, if you get part-time work or a vacation job, make sure your boss knows you’re a student. They should have the appropriate forms which you’ll both need to fill in and sign – they’re not complicated, for a change, although you’ll need your National Insurance (NI) number (see dwp.gov.uk/lifeevent/benefits/ni_number.asp if you’re not sure what yours is).
For temp jobs, the relevant form is called a P38(S) and for term-time work it’s a P46. Where they come up with these crazy names, we’ll never know.
Once you’ve filled in the forms, tax shouldn’t be taken out of your wages. But if you don't do the forms, it’ll be deducted automatically. All is not lost if this happens - you can claim back any tax that you needn’t have paid from HM Revenue & Customs at the end of the tax year. But it’s a bit of a hassle and means it’s in their account rather than yours in the meantime.
The students who are most likely to end up paying more than nothing in income tax are those doing work placements (usually as part of a sandwich course). What they receive from their employer is subject to tax, although there are sneaky get-out clauses for certain money earned by certain students meeting certain conditions.
It’s one to check out with your students’ union officer or Tax Office – hmrc.gov.uk for more info. Students with savings or investments might also end up paying tax if the income generated takes them over the £11,500 threshold.
Let’s just make that clear – for tax purposes, it’s the extra money that the savings earn – the interest, or dividend payments, or whatever – that counts, not the amount that’s already stacked up in the bank. And if you’ve got enough stashed away to pull in such a vast amount of interest, why not?
If, however, you have smaller savings, get in touch with whoever is paying interest or returns on those investments and ask that the money be paid gross (i.e. without the tax being taken off before they give it to you). That’ll save you claiming the money back.
And if you find you’re getting near the threshold, let them know and they can start deducting the tax again. Otherwise you may have to pay a lump sum when Mr Taxman finishes his calculations.
At some time while you’re a student, you will almost certainly need advice about either paying or claiming back tax. Your local tax office is there to help or you can visit hmrc.gov.uk/students.
And no matter how many times you flash your NUS card, students are no different. The only change is that although they have to pay income tax, the amount is usually zero. Huh? The difference may be subtle, but paying nothing is not the same as escaping them.
Everyone gets a personal non-taxable allowance - which is the amount you’re allowed to earn before the Government starts taking a cut. Tax years run from April to April (don’t ask why – it’s something to do with medieval sheep markets) and currently the personal tax allowance is £11,850.
So, if in this time you earn or receive income above £11,500, you are supposed to pay income tax – although you only have to pay tax on the amount above the allowance, not on the whole lot. The more you earn the more you pay, but at first it’s only 10%.
Loans and grants don’t count as income. Nor do scholarships or bursaries. It's just what you receive from paid work and there aren’t too many students doing full-time courses who’ll be earning more than the personal allowance in a year.
So, if you get part-time work or a vacation job, make sure your boss knows you’re a student. They should have the appropriate forms which you’ll both need to fill in and sign – they’re not complicated, for a change, although you’ll need your National Insurance (NI) number (see dwp.gov.uk/lifeevent/benefits/ni_number.asp if you’re not sure what yours is).
For temp jobs, the relevant form is called a P38(S) and for term-time work it’s a P46. Where they come up with these crazy names, we’ll never know.
Once you’ve filled in the forms, tax shouldn’t be taken out of your wages. But if you don't do the forms, it’ll be deducted automatically. All is not lost if this happens - you can claim back any tax that you needn’t have paid from HM Revenue & Customs at the end of the tax year. But it’s a bit of a hassle and means it’s in their account rather than yours in the meantime.
The students who are most likely to end up paying more than nothing in income tax are those doing work placements (usually as part of a sandwich course). What they receive from their employer is subject to tax, although there are sneaky get-out clauses for certain money earned by certain students meeting certain conditions.
It’s one to check out with your students’ union officer or Tax Office – hmrc.gov.uk for more info. Students with savings or investments might also end up paying tax if the income generated takes them over the £11,500 threshold.
Let’s just make that clear – for tax purposes, it’s the extra money that the savings earn – the interest, or dividend payments, or whatever – that counts, not the amount that’s already stacked up in the bank. And if you’ve got enough stashed away to pull in such a vast amount of interest, why not?
If, however, you have smaller savings, get in touch with whoever is paying interest or returns on those investments and ask that the money be paid gross (i.e. without the tax being taken off before they give it to you). That’ll save you claiming the money back.
And if you find you’re getting near the threshold, let them know and they can start deducting the tax again. Otherwise you may have to pay a lump sum when Mr Taxman finishes his calculations.
At some time while you’re a student, you will almost certainly need advice about either paying or claiming back tax. Your local tax office is there to help or you can visit hmrc.gov.uk/students.
NATIONAL INSURANCE (NI)
NI is separate from tax, although it’s collected by the same people at the Inland Revenue. In theory it pays towards your state pension and so on. You can’t opt out of it, so it feels pretty much the same as a tax.
It’s taken out of your salary by your employer, who then pays it to the Inland Revenue (along with a little bit extra they have to add).
It’s not much and how much you pay is related to how much you earn. As with tax, earnings under a certain threshold (currently £105 a week) are exempt and so it’s unlikely many students will have to cough up. Unlike tax, however, NI is due on your pay for the week or month rather than for the year and so you won’t get a refund if you stop working part of the way through the year.
It’s taken out of your salary by your employer, who then pays it to the Inland Revenue (along with a little bit extra they have to add).
It’s not much and how much you pay is related to how much you earn. As with tax, earnings under a certain threshold (currently £105 a week) are exempt and so it’s unlikely many students will have to cough up. Unlike tax, however, NI is due on your pay for the week or month rather than for the year and so you won’t get a refund if you stop working part of the way through the year.